Homemade?

[loaded303]

Thanks man

[Vinne]

That puts to shame my little 5 gal tumbler.

[Ron of Va]

I made some bullet drop dies for my reloading press.

I bought my first progressive reloading press this year, a Dillon Super 1050.

I am not new to reloading, just to a progressive press.

I knew right away I didn’t want to place a bullet on top of every case, so I took apart an airline quick disconnect and studied how the ball bearings held the things together and released each other quickly and cleanly. My design was born from there. (I also first studied and bought the Hornaday bullet feeder which I will get to shortly).


Now midway into my prototype design, I discovered the Mr. Bulletfeeder dies. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was that someone else had already thought of the design. I kept thinking that if this works out, I could sell my design and make some money. At that time the Mr. Bulletfeeder dies were not offered in .223, and I think they were $113 each, so I pressed on with my design. I knew I needed at least 4. If they were $49 then, as they are now, I would have stopped right there. (Mine are steel and brass, theirs are aluminum, and I can make them in any caliber I want.)

Left to right, .45; .40; .38/9mm; .223


Here is the .45 mounted on the press. I adapted the Lee bullet magazine feeder to fit on top of all the drop dies. I really don’t care much for the Lee magazine bullet holder, and prefer the straight tube.


My problem is the Dillon 1050 doesn’t have a lot of room above the turret, because of the case feeder. The Hornaday bullet feeder is so tall, there is hardly any room for the plastic tubes.
I made and replaced the top part of the Hornaday die with a much shorter part, with a built in mount for the Lee magazine. It was still too tall.



Sometimes I use the Lee magazine bullet holder, and sometimes I don’t.


There is no way in hell I am putting the bullets in the tubes one at a time. I made a block of wood with four grooves. The two on the outside are for large calibers, and the two in the center are for small calibers. Just throw a handful of bullets on the block, and give them a nudge one way or the other.


Ok, everybody get in line.


There was a learning curve. With a few mistakes along the way.

[Johnny_V]

Ron,

Great job. I love how you improvised to get things to work "your" way. Also, you are one of a few that shows how many "mistakes" it takes to create a setup the way you want it. Thanks for sharing.....

[Four Fingers of Death]

That grooved wooden tray is a touch of simple brilliance!

[Taylor]

Man,I wish I had machining skills,the things I could make.

[Ron of Va]

Hey guys, thanks for the compliments. I am glad yall liked the drop dies and the wooden block.

Ron

[jimbull34]

Ron, great job there, you are right on. I have a hornady LNL press and I use a plastic tube for my bullet feeder that goes all the way up to the case loader hopper. I put a eye hook in the case hopper and the tube goes into that to hold it up and straight. I can put 80 bullets in it at a time and works great. Drilled a .032" hole near the bottom edge and put a snap pin in it to hold the bullets in the tube while placing it in the feeder. The plastic was $3, cheap fix to a problem. If you are making a .223 feeder die and want to sell one, pm me, I'm interested...fat fingers, small work place LOL!

I also made a case trimmer for my drill. Just could not afford a $100 plus, unit that I have seen. This works great, except that I have nylon on order to use as a bushing to hold the case. The straight alum. die, the case gets hot and sticks...hope I can get the pic's on here.

[jimbull34]

Well, that didn't work...try again

[jimbull34]

If anyone is interested in a trimmer, pm me.

[dsbock]

Not as fancy or finished as some of the other projects on here, I've been working on this burner support for a few weeks now.

The table was originally a home made table saw that was in the workshop when we bought the house. It has been repurposed for two other projects before this one.


A friend dropped off an old, empty propane tank that I cut for a lead pot.


I donn't have a welder or welding skills, so I drilled holes in some black iron pipe for the steel bars and drilled and tapped holes in the table top to hold the pipe.


The heat source is a Harbor Freight $20 weed burner that is held in a collar that is supported via steel strips by the same screws that hold the pipe to the top.


David

[ncbearman]

Great job David. You have inspired me. btw- if you cut another 3" section off the top half of the propane tank you can have a nice sturdy base for the pot.

Attachment 117541

[dsbock]

Great job David. You have inspired me. btw- if you cut another 3" section off the top half of the propane tank you can have a nice sturdy base for the pot.

ncbearman,

The ring is sitting in the garage waiting for me to learn welding from one of my friends. I've been working on this off and on for months as work and health allowed. I'm especially glad that I finished this part of the project as we're getting into good casting weather here in the northeast.

David

[ncbearman]

ncbearman,

The ring is sitting in the garage waiting for me to learn welding from one of my friends. I've been working on this off and on for months as work and health allowed. I'm especially glad that I finished this part of the project as we're getting into good casting weather here in the northeast.

David

Spot welds on the ring will suffice. It won't take much to hold it together. Go ahead, fire up the welder and throw some sparks. Best way to learn. Good Luck. Oh, and I found a table to re-purpose and make into smelting stand. No more leaning over the turkey fryer.

Russ

[dsbock]

Spot welds on the ring will suffice. It won't take much to hold it together. Go ahead, fire up the welder and throw some sparks. Best way to learn. Good Luck. Oh, and I found a table to re-purpose and make into smelting stand. No more leaning over the turkey fryer.

Russ

I don't have a welder yet. Part of the learning process will be selecting one.

David

[ncbearman]

I don't have a welder yet. Part of the learning process will be selecting one.

David

If there is a small mom and pop weld shop they would do it inexpensive. But then you wouldn't have the fun of buying a welder

[dsbock]

If there is a small mom and pop weld shop they would do it inexpensive. But then you wouldn't have the fun of buying a welder

Exactly. My friend just go a new welder earlier this year. He and his wife build race cars, among other things. At this point it's just a matter of finding time when we're both available.

I'm looking forward to learning a new skill.

David

[308Man]

Neat Stuff

[Four Fingers of Death]

If there is a small mom and pop weld shop they would do it inexpensive. But then you wouldn't have the fun of buying a welder

We had a guy in town great welder, got a job at the prison for a few years then left and started up a one man welding shop with his wife answering the phone / doing the accounts, etc. He ended up with an apprentice working with him. He loved to do little jobs and would nearly always drop everything and come out and fix whatever it was on the spot. I have a welder, but used to get him to do anything structural on trailers, etc that were to be used on the road. He retired recently and is a real loss to the town.

[jimbull34]

I have had a few people ask me about shoulder adjustable case trimmers, sooooo, I put my feeble little mind together and this is what I have made. It works great!!